Wheel Hoes

In his 1989 book, The New Organic Grower, Eliot Coleman says this about garden weeding: “Don’t weed, cultivate… Large weeds are competition for both the crops and the grower.” While continuous light cultivation to prevent weeds is very ideal, we don’t always stay on top of things in the never-ending weed game. Inevitably you’re going to get weeds sprouting between the rows in your vegetable garden. And when you do, you’re going to need an efficient means for eliminating them.

We have two different garden weeding attachments for the Hoss Wheel Hoe – Sweeps and Oscillating Hoes. Our Sweeps are sold as a pair (left and right) and our Oscillating Hoes are available in three different blade sizes — 6″, 8″ and 12″. Although these Wheel Hoe Attachments have the same garden weeding function, they each have unique features that might make one or the other perfect for you.

Garden Weeding with Sweeps

Our Sweeps attachment for the Hoss Wheel Hoes include a left and right weeding blade. These blades made of high carbon steel and are extremely sharp out of the box. The left and right blade have a slightly different angle, so that they can be overlapped without interfering with the other. This allows you to alter the weeding path when using the Sweeps. With the versatility afforded by the many attachment holes on Hoss Wheel Hoe tool bar, you can arrange the Sweeps for a solid garden weeding path as narrow as 6″ all the way up to 12″. The Sweeps can also be configured for “straddle-weeding” with the Hoss Double Wheel Hoe. Because of the space between the wheels, you can configure the Sweeps blades to extend outward towards the wheels, leaving a space in the middle to straddle your vegetable plants.

Garden Weeding with Oscillating Hoes

Garden Weeding Oscillating Hoe

Our Oscillating Hoes (or stirrup hoes) are made with a powder coated steel frame and a sharpened, spring steel blade. Unlike the Sweeps, the Oscillating Hoe blades are sharp on both sides. This allows you to cut weeds while pushing the Wheel Hoe in a forward and backward motion down the row. As mentioned earlier, our Oscillating Hoes are a fixed width (6″, 8″ or 12″). The width that’s right for you will depend on your row spacing. With some crops like corn or beans with wider row spacing, you might choose the 12″ Oscillating Hoe. However, with crops like lettuce and greens that typically have narrower row spacing, the 6″ might be perfect. By selecting our Spreader Bar Bonus option, you can also perform “straddle-weeding” with the 6″ Oscillating Hoes attached to the Hoss Double Wheel Hoe.

To conclude, the Sweeps offer a little more versatility as far as different weeding width configurations. And while the Oscillating Hoes are a fixed width, they are sharp on both sides which allows you to cut forwards and backwards. The choice for you will depend on your growing situation. You can’t go wrong with either option for garden weeding!

The Hoss Wheel Hoe is a push cultivator that provides remarkable versatility for preparing and maintaining your vegetable garden. Because the tool bar on our Wheel Hoe has multiple attachment holes and slots, there are endless possibilities for configurations of our Wheel Hoe attachments. Regardless of your garden design and row spacing, you can configure a setup on the Wheel Hoe that will work for you. And because all attachments are easily interchangeable with only a 9/16″ wrench required, changing setups with our push cultivator is a breeze!

The Hoss Single Wheel Hoe and Double Wheel Hoe include a set of 3 cultivator teeth and 4 cultivator teeth, respectively. These push cultivator teeth can be arranged in many different locations on the Wheel Hoe tool bar. You can use the standard configurations seen in our product photos, or you can customize a configuration to work for your specific crop spacing. Recently we planted several rows of Asian greens in our high-tunnel growing house. And while the greens were growing well, so were the weeds. We needed a way to weed these Asian greens that were planted on a very close row spacing.

Single Wheel Hoe Push Cultivator

Push Cultivator Improvising

Using the Double Wheel Hoe, we were able to determine a setup that would work perfect for weeding these greens. We used two push cultivator teeth and placed one behind each wheel, so that the path of each wheel would also determine our weeding path. This would allow us to straddle a row of these closely planted greens and cultivate each side of the plants in one pass down the row. It worked perfectly. The point and curvature of the cultivator teeth allow them to easily move through the garden soil while uprooting all weeds in the way. See how easily it was done in this video:

Our Spreader Bar Extension opens the door for even more possibilities for Wheel Hoe weeding and cultivating configurations. The Spreader Bar Extension allows you to extend the length of the Wheel Hoe tool bar on either side for more attachment locations for our push cultivator implements. And while the options are endless, some great ideas include adding more cultivator teeth for a wider cultivating/weeding path, extending the bedding width of the Plow Set attachment, or offsetting the weeding path of attachments such as our Oscillating Hoes or Sweeps.

Here are two of the most frequent questions we get from new customers: “Should I get the steam bent wheel hoe handles or the pistol grip wheel hoe handles?” and “Should I get the standard wheel hoe handles or the junior wheel hoe handles?” So, there’s two separate issues to cover here — handle styles and the height adjustment of the handles. We’ll start with the handle styles.

Styles of Wheel Hoe Handles

We have two different styles of hardwood, ash handles for our Wheel Hoes — steam bent and pistol grip. The pistol grip handles have a wide block at the end that fits in the palm of your hand with your fingers wrapping around like the block like you are gripping a “pistol.” This type of handle was the preferred design in the late 1800s and early 1900s when Wheel Hoes were the preferred tool for all farmers — not just market farmers and backyard gardeners.

The steam bent handles have a curved end that’s not as thick as the pistol grip handles. The ends of the steam bent handles are bent and formed by an Amish group in Ohio who uses a very detailed and unique heating and bending process. In the early 1900s when pistol grips were most popular, the steam bent handles were actually an up-charge option on the Planet Jr. Wheel Hoes.

So which is best? Nowadays most people prefer the steam bent handles because it’s easier to wrap your hands around them. They’re also easier to grip when performing a forward and backward shuffling motion of weeding or cultivating, such as is done with our Oscillating Hoes. The pistol grip handles work great when the Wheel Hoe is being continuously pushed forward down the row, such as is done when using the Plow attachments. It’s really about personal preference. If you’re just using it to make furrows and hill with the Plows, the pistol grips might be best for you. If you’re going to shuffle the hoe down the row like has traditionally been done, then the steam bent handles are probably best.

Heights of Wheel Hoe Handles

We also have two different lengths of handles — a standard handle (Single and Double Wheel Hoe) and a Junior Wheel Hoe handle. The Junior Wheel Hoe handles are the same steam bent handles included with the Single and Double Wheel Hoe, except they have 10″ cut off the end. In the location on the Wheel Hoe frame where the handles attach, you will notice that the top bolt hole is slotted. This slotted hole allows you to adjust the handles up or down depending on your height. Simply loosen that nut on each side, move the handles to the desired height and tighten the nut.

For the standard wheel hoe handles included with the Single Wheel Hoe and Double Wheel Hoe, the range of height adjustment is 38″ to 45″ from the ground to the tallest point on the handles. For the Junior Wheel Hoe handles, the range of height adjustment is 33″ to 39″ from the ground to the tallest point on the handles. As with handle style, handle height is also a matter of personal preference. Some people push the Wheel Hoe using more leg strength than arm strength, and so they prefer the handles lower on the hip. However, some people push the Wheel Hoe using their upper body more than their legs, and so they prefer the handles higher above the hip.

We’ve recently updated and improved one of our most popular Wheel Hoe Attachments, the Hoss Wheel Hoe Sweeps, to help you keep weeds under control in your vegetable garden. Weeding in a vegetable garden is a preventative practice. The easiest way to control weeds is to perform a light cultivation before weeds appear.

The previous version of Wheel Hoe Sweeps were made with a casting and were not already sharpened when shipped. With our customers in mind, the Hoss Wheel Hoe Sweeps have been redesigned with the following improvements to help you ‘Make Gardening Easy!’:

A higher quality, zinc-plated steel that’s easier to sharpen.

An extremely sharp blade that slices through the soil with ease, cutting out the weeds along the way.

A steeper blade angle for increased displacement of weeds that are cut.

More attachment holes so that a variety of configurations can be used.

Hoss Wheel Hoe Sweeps are packaged as a pair with a left and right Sweep. The left and right Sweep have slightly different angles so that the blades may overlap without touching each other. This allows you to adjust your weeding path width depending on your row spacing. You can overlap the Sweeps for a narrow row spacing or you can extend them completely for a wide weeding path.

Hoss Wheel Hoe Sweeps Configurations:

Turn the blades inward (see top photo) and slightly overlap the sweeps to weed paths between rows.

Turn the blades outward (see photo below) to straddle small plants and weed both sides of the plant with the sweeps in one pass.

Are you planting potatoes in your vegetable garden? Potatoes are a great crop that are easy to grow and can be stored for many months. Around here the temperatures are warming and the dogwood trees are blooming. We have pepper and tomato plants galore in the greenhouse that are being stepped up to larger containers. Just recently, we planted English Peas and Red Irish Potatoes.

The last weekend in February is typically the ideal time for planting potatoes here in south Georgia. We were a few days late because we had to wait on soil conditions to dry, but we got them planted soon enough.

The Hoss Double Wheel Hoe with Plow Attachments makes planting potatoes a breeze. It’s by far the easiest way to plant potatoes in a backyard vegetable garden. With the Plow Attachments, you can make a perfect furrow for planting your potatoes. Once you lay your potatoes in the furrow, you can then turn switch the direction of the plows and easily hill your potatoes. Because the Double Wheel Hoe has a space between the wheels, you can straddle the planted potatoes and easily mound them for maximal growing.

The video below shows you how we do it from start to finish.

The Double Wheel Hoe with Plow Set attachment makes it really easy to dig a furrow and cover up the potatoes. They make quick work of the process and ensure you get a nice, deep furrow and consistent cover for your seed potatoes.

As the weather is quite warm here in south Georgia, most of the crops we planted in the spring are now finished. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks pulling up all of the finished spring crops, keeping the ground weed-free, and planning what to plant for our fall crops. While we must wait until the temperature cools off to plant most of our fall crops, we can do a little fall garden planting. We started some Okra and Tomato in the greenhouse about a month ago and we grew them in there until they were large enough to transplant. To prepare the soil for transplanting our Okra and Tomatoes, we first used the Hoss Double Wheel Hoe with Cultivator Teeth attachments to cultivate and aerate the soil.

Once the soil was adequately cultivated, we used a single Plow attachment with the Double Wheel Hoe to make a furrow for our transplants. This attachment makes it easy to create a furrow with constant depth across the row, ensuring all transplants are planted at the same soil depth.

We planted our Okra and Tomato plants in the furrow and compacted the soil around the plants. Now we just have to water and wait. In a couple of weeks, we will side dress these with some organic manure fertilizer and hill them using the Plow attachment for the Hoss Double Wheel Hoe. Stay tuned for more Fall garden updates!

As the spring/summer growing season is coming to an end, we are preparing and planning for our fall garden. Specifically we’re doing Blackeye Pea bed preparation for the fall. Our goal is always to grow food throughout the year in all seasons when possible. For this to be accomplished, one must plan ahead of time and keep the garden in workable shape at all times. We are currently in the process of pulling up spring/summer crops and preparing areas for fall planting, and I wanted to share with you how we use the Hoss Wheel Hoe to do this.

In this garden, I had Yellow Crookneck Squash planted in between our Fordhook Lima Beans (left) and Rainbow Chard (right). Over the course of the warm growing season, I was able to keep the weeds in check reasonably well. However, due to quite a bit of rain in the last few weeks, the weeds became quite thick among the squash plants. Once I pulled up the squash, there was a wide expanse of weeds that needed to be removed.

I attached the 12″ Oscillating Hoe Attachment to my Hoss Double Wheel Hoe and started working through the weed patch for the Blackeye Pea bed preparation. This attachment works like a dream for this type of task as the sharpened spring steel blade cuts through the thickest of weeds. The 12″ Oscillating Hoe Attachment also provides a thorough shallow cultivation on the soil,
preparing it for the next planting.

After making one pass through the plot with the Double Wheel Hoe and 12″ Oscillating Hoe, I used a fan rake to pull all of the cut weeds to the ends of the garden. The plot looked considerably better after the initial run through it. However, due to the density of weeds, especially the grassy ones, I needed to make a final quick run to get all of the weeds out of this area.

After the second weed-cutting run through the plot, I used the fan rake again to rake the weeds out of the area. The plot was now free of weeds, cultivated and in great condition for planting soon. The 12″ Oscillating Hoe did a great job of cutting underneath the thick weeds, while also cultivating the area at the same time. Below is a link to the video of the Blackeye Pea bed preparation process from start to finish.

The old timers here in south Georgia always would say to plant potatoes on Valentine’s Day, and that’s what I did when I started gardening years ago. One year I happened to be running a little behind and got them planted at the end of February. I have found this works best for me. If we have a warm February, the 14th would work fine, but generally my potatoes perform best when planted at the end of the month.

I plant the Red Pontiac (also known as Dakota Chief) variety which is the old standby favorite. They are affordable and they grow well and store well in our southern climate. Last year I experimented with fingerling potatoes. There has been a lot of hype over them the last few years and the seed potatoes can be quite expensive. I found some that had started sprouting in SAMs that were intended to be sold as fresh eating potatoes and they were marked down 1/2 price. It was a variety pack with different colored fingerling potatoes, so I planted them. They turned out to be outstanding and one of my new favorites! The texture was different and they cook faster (being smaller). If the seed potatoes were more readily available and less expensive, I would plant more. If you get a chance to grow them, you won’t regret it.

The Hoss Wheel Hoe makes planting potatoes easy. Using the left and right plow attachments, the wheel hoe can be set up as a furrower and a hiller. To create a furrow, simply attach the plows to the tool bar of the wheel hoe facing outward. Once planted, the potatoes can be covered by turning the plows on the tool bar inward so they serve as a hiller. Seed spacing recommendations for potatoes range from 10″ to 24″. However, in my garden I plant on 8″ spacing as I have found my potatoes to be most productive on closer spacing. I cut them up a few days before I intend to plant them (to give them time to heal) and always plant the sprout facing upwards. Always plant your potatoes in a different spot in the garden every year as the rotation helps with disease control.